Jordan summoned Israeli ambassador Nevo Dani on Thursday to demand a halt to "unilateral" work carried out by the Jewish state on the outer walls of Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre."The ambassador was summoned today to the foreign ministry where he was handed an official letter of protest expressing deep concerns and rejection of unilateral measures in the outer western walls of the church," a senior official told AFP.
The Jordanian government demanded Israel "immediately halt such actions and restore the status quo," according to the letter.
"Israel's measures are illegal and violate international laws because Israel is the occupying force in the West Bank and east Jerusalem," the official said.
Another Jordanian official said the Israeli authorities "have removed iron bars around a gate in the walls that has been sealed since the British mandate of Palestine (which ended in 1948) and opened the gate."
The official, who declined to be named, said that the Israelis "claimed that they were doing renovations but nobody asked them to do anything".
"This is unprecedented and dangerous," the official said, noting that anything to do with the Holy Sepulchre is "very sensitive."
In Jerusalem, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, which looks after the holy places on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church and liaises with other Christian denominations, also protested against what it said was a unilateral Israeli action.
"The work presently being carried out by the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) on the ancient sealed door known as Mary?s Gate, which is located on Christian Quarter road in the Old City of Jerusalem, is the sole and entire initiative of the same Israeli Antiquities Authority," it said in a statement.
"The Custody of the Holy Land never asked the IAA to do this work nor did the Custody give its permission.
"In fact the representatives of the Custody informed representatives of the IAA of the sensitive nature of this door.
"It must be stated that the Custody asked that no change to this door be made, and that the iron bars protecting the door be left in their present state, precisely because behind this sealed door is the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Sepulchre Church.
"The Custody would like to state for the record that the status quo regarding this ancient door must be left unchanged."
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is shared uneasily by six Christian denominations -- Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Egyptian Coptic, Syrian Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox as well as Roman Catholic.
It is regarded by most Christians as the holiest place in Christendom.
Church sources in Jordan told AFP that Israel started work on the walls on November 23.
Jordan, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, stressed in the letter the "need to maintain the status quo between all Christian denominations."
It is the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, in coordination with the Palestinians.
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SIC: AFP